Fun at the theatre for children and their parents

Expect silence from the actors and laughter from the audience when ACT 3 International's latest offering, A Clean Sweep, takes to the stage this Saturday.

The play, starring Tim Licata and Calum MacAskill, was created by Scotland's Plutot La Vie, and will be the Scottish company's first production here. It has no dialogue and relies largely on the actors' interaction with each other and props to convey the play's themes of friendship and human nature.

The story will also be told through the art of clowning. Licata, 48, who trained at the prestigious Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, France, says: "When people think of clowns, they mostly think of party clowns. But there is a skill in clowning that helps with physical theatre. It teaches actors to be comfortable with themselves, enough to show their vulnerable and ridiculous sides."

The production has drawn praise from critics. Scottish daily The Scotsman commended it for being "blessedly simple and uncluttered" and "endlessly inventive."